Lost and Found
by drwhofangirl591
Summary: While lost in a strange forest and searching for the Doctor Peri discovers an unexpected friend.


The semi-frozen ground crunched beneath Peri's feet as she stumbled through the dark forest. Overhead a gigantic moon reflected off the thin layer of snow creating just enough light to keep her from tripping over fallen branches and roots. She had no idea where she was or even how she'd gotten there. Peri called out for the Doctor but the only response she received was an aggravated hoot from what sounded like an owl in a nearby tree. She stopped and took in her surroundings trying to decide if she'd somehow ended up back on Earth. Looking up over her shoulder Peri could make out the solid black silhouette of a mountain looming menacingly above her blotting out a large portion of the impressive star field glinting behind it. Continuing on she wandered deeper into the woods, keeping her back to the mountain in the hope of maintaining some kind of bearing.

The night was still. Where ever she was the wildlife didn't seem particularly active which suited her just fine. The last thing she needed right now was to run into some hungry predator on the prowl for a late night snack. Carefully picking her way through the bramble Peri peered through the shadows and noticed a clearing not far up ahead. Perhaps it was a campsite or part of a trail. As she drew nearer she could hear the muffled sobs of someone close by. She crept to the edge of the clearing. Huddled atop of the remains of a felled tree trunk was a small boy.

The ground under her feet shifted as she shivered from the cold causing the leaves to crackle loudly startling the child. He leapt from the log and grabbed the largest stick he could find.

"Who's there?" he shouted doing his best to sound brave even though his voice was horse from crying. "Show yourself!"

Peri stepped out of from the tree line and slowly made her way forward, her hands raised in surrender, "Hi."

The boy gasped, not expecting anyone to obey his command. He backed away holding the stick out in front of him like a sword ready to strike. "Who –who are you?"

"My name is Peri. I didn't mean to alarm you…"

He regarded her with suspicion as he tried to decide what to make of the intruder with the unusual accent and even more unusual clothes.

"You see I'm lost. I don't really know how I got here. I um heard someone crying... Are you lost too?"

"I'm not lost. I'm running away," he snapped defiantly.

"Oh." Peri examined the curious boy as he ventured closer to get a better look at her. He couldn't have been more than 8 or 9 years old. He had short light brown hair that she imagined might appear almost blonde in the right light. His cheeks were red from the cold night air and streaked with dirt and tears. The clothing he wore struck her as odd, a long black and silver tunic which looked ceremonial.

He noticed her staring at his attire and held up his makeshift weapon. "This is some kind of trick, you're one of them! I won't go back! You can't make me!"

Peri backed away as he swung the stick in a wide arc. "Hey! What are you talking about?"

"You're here to take me back to the Academy."

"What Academy? I told you I don't even know where I am."

The boy lowered the stick realizing the young woman's confusion was genuine. "You really aren't from here are you?"

"Unless this is Earth, no I'm not."

"Earth?" He stared at her like she was speaking another language. "Oh you mean Sol Three?"

"Uh sure Sol Three. You haven't by chance seen a big blue box or man in a silly looking coat running around have you?"

"No."

"Well I was traveling with my friend, the Doctor and I think something went wrong with the Tardis. Some kind of portal opened up, I must have been pulled through it..."

The boy's eyes grew wide at the mention of the time craft, "You have a Tardis? Only the older students are allowed near them. I've never seen one up close. Can I see it?"

"It's not mine; it's the Doctor's –hold on, you know what I'm talking about? But then that would mean that you're a… And that… Is this Gallifrey?"

He nodded excitedly as a giant grin spread across his face. "You said you were from Sol Three? You're a human! I've never met anyone who wasn't a Gallifreyian before!" The boy circled Peri inspecting her from every angle. "Fascinating! Do all humans dress like this? How many hearts do you have? If you have a Tardis you must visit lots of different planets and time periods. You and your friend could take me away from this place!"

"Okay slow down there. A moment ago you were accusing me of working for some Academy and now you're ready to run off with a complete stranger? How about we start with a proper introduction?"

"Fine," he replied sounding a little disappointed.

"Like I said I'm Peri."

"My name is… um," he hesitated as though he'd forgotten it, "Theta Sigma of the Prydonian Chapter. You can call me Theta. That's my nickname. It's much easier to say than my real name."

"Having unpronounceable names must be a common problem for Time Lords," she joked but the humor was lost on the child. "Anyway, it's nice to meet you Theta. Mind if I ask why exactly you're running away?"

Theta retreated to the tree trunk, scrambled onto and sat cross-legged. Peri followed him and mimicked his posture. She was grateful she'd opted not to put on shorts today but even so her pants and light weight jacket still weren't enough to keep her from freezing

"The Untempered Schism," Theta whispered reverently.

Peri shook her head, "I'm sorry I don't know what that is."

"An opening in the Time Vortex. The Academy forces all of us to look into it, part of our initiation. I thought I was ready but seeing all of time and space at once, it was too much to take in. I got scared so I ran. Only cowards run from the Schism." His eyes were brimming with tears again. "I don't think I have what it takes to become a Time Lord."

Peri placed her hand on his shoulder trying to comfort him. "There's nothing wrong with being scared Theta. They shouldn't expect you to not feel overwhelmed by this experience; you're only a kid after all. I'm sure plenty of great Time Lords felt the same as you."

He used to sleeve of his robe to wipe his face. "It doesn't matter. I can't go back to the Academy, and I don't want to."

"What do you want then?"

"I want to see the universe and have amazing adventures not be stuck in some stuffy old classroom learning boring stuff like Paradox Declension or Stellar Engineering. Won't you take me with you? Please?"

"I'm probably the last person that should be giving anyone advice about staying in school but I think you should give the Academy another chance. You might find something you enjoy learning about."

"Did you run away from your Academy too?"

"Let's just say I'm taking an extended break."

Theta's face suddenly lit up as he got an idea. "Your friend, he's a Time Lord yes? Maybe he could be my mentor. That way I'd still be learning and I'd get to travel with you. Do you think he'd agree to teach me?"

"Uh…" Peri tried to imagine the Doctor's current incarnation taking on the role of a tutor. Some days he barely had the patience to deal with her questions, let alone an inquisitive child. Then again they hadn't come across many children during their travels so she really couldn't say how well he'd handle one. "Maybe? Wouldn't you rather stay here and study with kids your own age? And what about your friends and family? They're probably worried sick by now. They'll wonder where you are."

His optimistic smile faded as drew his knees up to his chest. "They wouldn't miss me."

"I don't think that's true. Don't get me wrong I love traveling with the Doctor but there are times when I regret leaving my family without saying goodbye. I sometimes wonder what they think must have happened to me or how they will know if something does."

"It's a Tardis. You can visit your family any time and let them know you're alright."

Peri laughed in spite of herself. "I'm going to let you in on a little secret kid. The Doctor's piloting skills need some work. He claims he's been flying his Tardis for hundreds of years but I doubt he passed his pilot's test, if he took one at all."

Theta gawked at her before screwing up his face in confusion. "How did he get a Tardis if he didn't pass his exams?"

"Um well that's not really important," she replied nervously.

"He stole it didn't he!?" The boy sat there in awe, looking as if he'd just found his new role model. "He's a Renegade!"

"Look Theta, life in the Tardis isn't all fun and games. Yes I've seen some amazing things but they've come at a cost. Travelling through time and space is dangerous. I can't tell you how many times we've been caught in life or death situations."

"Please Peri let me come with you. I don't care if it's dangerous I can look after myself. Please?"

Peri realized there was no talking the boy out of it; clearly his mind was made up. "Tell you what," she hopped off the log and stood in front of Theta. "Since you're so eager you can tag along with me until I find the Doctor. When we do you can ask him if you can come with us. But if he says that you need to go back to the Academy then we'll take you back. Deal?"

Peri held out a hand to him. He sat there for a moment considering her offer before finally placing his hand in hers. "Deal. Where should we look first?"

She was about to suggest that they find someplace to warm up and wait until morning when she spied a light moving through the trees on the other side of the clearing. As it got closer she realized it was a torch being held aloft. Several more torches appeared accompanied by heavy footsteps that were heading straight for them. "I think someone's coming."

"Oh no! They've found me!" Theta cried. He leapt off his perch and took up the stick again.

"Who are they?" Peri glanced around as the torch lights continued to surround them.

"The Academy's security patrol," Theta said as he positioned himself between Peri and the approaching guards. "You must get out of here."

"No I'm not leaving you behind."

"You're a human. Humans aren't welcome on Gallifrey. They'll arrest you and put you on trial. Don't worry about me I'll be alright."

"Just come with me we can get away if we hurry." Peri tugged on his arm but he refused to budge, shrugging off her grip.

"When I say run, you run."

"Theta –what did you say?"

The guards broke through the trees, six of them in total. The leader raised his wrist and tapped a communication device attached to the back side of his glove. "We found him Lord Borusa."

One of the other guards drew his weapon and pointed it at Peri. "Who are you? Where did you come from?"

"She's my friend. Don't hurt her."

"Bring her," the head guard ordered. "Come along boy."

"Run Peri!" Theta charged at the guard holding the staser as he moved toward Peri. Swinging the branch he managed to knock the weapon away.

Peri sprinted back into the forest as two of the men wrestled the stick away from the child and the others gave chase. Tears blurred her vision as she staggered through the dark once more. Guilt was already eating at her for abandoning Theta.

"Peri!"

She froze at the all too familiar cry. The voice may have been younger but the tone was unmistakable.

"No, he couldn't be…"

Turning back she could just make out the guards hauling the small figure of the young Time Lord who would one day be known as the Doctor out of the clearing. He struggled momentarily but eventually resigned himself to his fate.

As much as she wanted to help him she knew she couldn't risk interfering with his timeline if she had indeed traveled into the Doctor's past.

"She went this way!"

The patrol was closing in again. Peri resumed her escape with no clue where she was heading. She knew that her tracks in the snow would give her away no matter where she tried to hide. Her only hope was that maybe they'd lose interest and call off the search. A flash of red shot past her head missing her by mere inches as one of the guards spotted her. It was not a warning shot. He fired again. Peri dodged the laser bolt falling to the hard ground in the process. Just as she was climbing to her feet a bright white portal sprang into existence in front of her illuminating the little patch of woods.

"Peri?" A familiar mop of blonde curls burst through the blinding light.

The guard on Peri's tail stopped cold and watched as the young woman disappeared into the portal which instantly sealed up the moment she was through.

The Doctor pulled Peri into his arms the instant she was safely inside the Tardis. "Found you at last! Are you alright?"

"I think so. What happened?" They were standing in the middle of the console room.

"I'm afraid that we materialized in the middle of a time storm which caused a malfunction in the Tardis's temporal vortex stabilizers and shields." He stepped back over to the console to check the readings. "It seems that a number of rifts were opened all over the Tardis due to the time spillage. There was no way of predicting where they would pop up or where they would lead. It took me a few tries but eventually I managed to reopen the correct rift before the system recalibrated and sealed them for good. Now to get us back on course."

Peri stood aside as he resumed running around the console. She was only half listening as he went on about something or other, too preoccupied with her own thoughts. The Doctor was the kind of person who talked all the time but he rarely ever talked about anything personal like his home or even other Time Lords. She supposed she could see now why he never discussed it. Just from that snippet of his past, his time on Gallifrey didn't seem very happy. Seeing him now she realized that that scared little boy had managed to run away after all. Her mind wandered back to the image of the guards dragging Theta back to the Academy and sickening thought struck her. What sort of punishment did they have in store for him upon his return? Just how cruel were the Time Lords to those who broke their rules?

"How does that sound Peri? …Peri?"

"Sure Theta where ever you want," she responded absent-mindedly.

The Doctor snapped to attention. "Theta? Theta!" In two strides he was towering over her. "Where did you hear that name?"

She couldn't tell if he was angry or just shocked as he stared down at her. "In that place –where the rift took me. I'm sorry –I."

"Peri, where were you?" She could see the fear creeping into his face.

Her own curiosity and concern got the better of her, "They didn't punish you severely did they for running away from the initiation?"

Once he figured out what she was talking about the Time Lord's expression softened, touched by how worried she sounded. "No. I received an unnecessarily lengthy lecture and what would equate to a detention in your education system."

"So I was right then, it was you!" Peri relaxed as if a weight had suddenly been lifted off her shoulders. "I felt so guilty for leaving you with those guards."

"They were nothing more than a scare tactic I assure you."

"When I finally realized that Theta was you I could only assume that I'd somehow jumped back in time. Then I was worried I'd mess something up if I tried to help. I didn't alter anything did I?"

He screwed up his face as he tried to recall the events of that night. "It was so long ago for me, I only have a vague recollection of meeting someone that night so it seems you didn't cause any major changes. How did you work out that it was me?"

"Well evading authority and wanting to explore the cosmos should have been dead giveaways. But actually it was when he put himself between me and the guards and created a distraction that I realized it was exactly what you would do, what you always do. Then I heard him call after me. This is probably going to sound silly but… You have a very distinct tone when you think I'm in trouble."

"I don't think, I know. Nine times out of ten the moment I lose sight of you you're off getting yourself captured, trapped, or very nearly eaten and on a few occasions all of those at once," he playfully mocked. "Well there are far worse events in my past you could have encountered. Consider yourself lucky."

The Doctor returned to the console to finish inputting their new coordinates.

"Does this mean I can call you Theta from now on?" Peri teased.

"Not unless you'd like me to come up with an equally infuriating nickname for you Perpugilliam."


End file.
